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Three MESA-funded projects in Cambodia, Kenya and Tanzania looked at what can be done to reduce efficacy decay of malaria interventions in different settings, and the feasibility of clearing parasites from asymptomatic people. As the projects wrap-up, the research groups are sharing findings with National Malaria Control Programmes, Ministries of Health, as well as national research networks.

Inherent in a strategy which requires repeated application of temporary control methods, is the specter of the Immunity Trap. After several years of suppressing malaria transmission by temporary methods, if the methods are suspended for any reason, the previously protected population will be extremely vulnerable to acute disease and death because they will have lost their immunity. The longer the temporary methods are used, the greater will be the risk for the population to fall into the Immunity Trap.

Mark Bennett passed away on 10 February 2015. Mark stood at the cradle of MalariaWorld. He will be missed and remembered.

Read below a tribute to Mark written by Julia Royall. Julia used to be the Director of the communications network of MIM (MIMCom) when she was the Chief, International Programs at NLM/NIH. Mark was appointed as Technical Director of MIMCom and helped 19 malaria research instutes in Africa to get (improved) access to the internet. His efforts have been invaluable to achieving free access to scientific information on malaria for all in need.

Last week the Roll Back Malaria Vector Control Working Group organised its 10th meeting in Geneva. Close to 200 vector control specialists from more than 30 countries attended the three-day event. What started as a small gathering years ago has grown to become what could be considered the equivalent of the annual ASTMH meeting but with an exclusive focus on vectors. And although this 10th meeting was ample reason for celebration, it wasn't. The meeting was officially addressed by WHO's Global Malaria Programme Director Dr. Pedro Alonso, who recently took office. His opening statements were clear: Insecticide resistance is as much a threat to continued successful malaria control, if not more, than the current Asian threat of artemisinin resistance. Pyrethroids were great and have undoubtedly saved many thousands of lives, but the era in which we could safely rely on them, is coming to an end. And that's bad news.

On the UK Parliament's 750th birthday, the All Party Parliamentary Group met to discuss collaborative initiatives in malaria research.

In the historic setting of the Palace of Westminster, on January 20th, the All Party Parliamentary Group on Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases (APPMG) met to discuss collaborative initiatives in malaria research. Last year, the UK Government pledged to increase funding for the fight against malaria up to £500 million every year, a goal the APPMG hopes to see achieved in 2015.

The current Ebola outbreak was headline news for some weeks. Public health was a hot topic on TV and radio and in the social media. There was an eager request for technical advise from epidemiologists, virologists, and vaccine experts, among others.

Do not miss the webcasts from ASTMH on 'Assessing the human infectious reservoir of malaria'. The session highlights important scientific advances as well as gaps of knowledge in this field. As the speakers explained during this session, currently we do not have a marker of infectiousness and we rely on mosquito feeding assays to assess infectivity. Although membrane feeding assays have shortcomings in estimating infectiousness, they can provide relevant information.

Do not miss the webcasts from ASTMH on 'Assessing the human infectious reservoir of malaria'. The session highlights important scientific advances as well as gaps of knowledge in this field. As the speakers explained during this session, currently we do not have a marker of infectiousness and we rely on mosquito feeding assays to assess infectivity. Although membrane feeding assays have shortcomings in estimating infectiousness, they can provide relevant information. Read more here...

As of December 2014, MalariaWorld, the world's largest and only online scientific and social network for malaria professionals, is celebrating its 5th anniversary. It's been an adventure that we never imagined would become what it has become today. Many of you will not know the history of MalariaWorld, so here's a brief summary.

In early 2015, the Malaria Atlas Project (MAP) team will update the global P. vivax endemicity map (see 2010 map here) and use this to generate global estimates of clinical cases. The maps and case estimates have widespread policy and advocacy use, so it is important to make these as robust and up-to-date as possible.

We invite you to collaborate with the MAP team to ensure that the map is fully comprehensive by sharing any parasite rate surveys you have.

In early 2015, the Malaria Atlas Project (MAP) team will update the global P. vivax endemicity map (see 2010 map here) and use this to generate global estimates of clinical cases. The maps and case estimates have widespread policy and advocacy use, so it is important to make these as robust and up-to-date as possible. We invite you to collaborate with the MAP team to ensure that the map is fully comprehensive by sharing any parasite rate surveys you have. Read more...

My field experience in fighting malaria in Africa started with five years in central Sudan where I helped organize the Blue Nile Health Project in 1979, aimed at protecting 2 million people in the million acre Gezira Irrigation System. I benefited a great deal from the malaria experience of my Sudanese colleagues, as well as from the Iranians and others in the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean. I also benefited from the support of WHO Geneva, and from Letitia Obeng in UNEP.

Thanks to the collaboration of ASTMH, ImageAV and presenters, MESA is sharing various webcasts from malaria elimination session at ASTMH in New Orleans. Click here to watch and listen to 'The Global Technical Strategy for Malaria & the Global Malaria Action Plan 2' session:

When I was asked by the US Agency for International Development to go to Angola in 2005 to start the Presidential Malaria Initiative (PMI), I was told to begin spraying interiors of homes in the southern provinces of Huila and Kunene as soon as possible. I think they picked me because Portuguese is one of my favorite languages, and I had worked on malaria control in Sudan for 5 years, besides being with CDC in Puerto Rico when the island was finally declared malaria-free.

Over the past decades, Research and Development has played a key role in driving the achievements made against malaria with the development of tools such as rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs), artemisinin-combination therapies (ACTs) and long-lasting insecticide-treated nets (LLINs). We have also made great progress in our capacity to disseminate the scientific information to the malaria community; open access journals, webs, blogs, twitter, emails, conferences, publications, etc. However, one of the questions that remained pending was, “is it possible to track all current research projects focused on malaria elimination and eradication?”

Over the past decades, Research and Development has played a key role in driving the achievements made against malaria with the development of tools such as rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs), artemisinin-combination therapies (ACTs) and long-lasting insecticide-treated nets (LLINs). We have also made great progress in our capacity to disseminate the scientific information to the malaria community; open access journals, webs, blogs, twitter, emails, conferences, publications, etc.